A MESS of pictures!

So due to the way the blogsite handles entries and the fact that I have to rush off to work instead of streamlining the process manually, you might have to choose "November 2005" on the right hand side there to view all the pictures. There might be 25 or so... They are from our holiday weekend visiting my parents in Knoxville and revolve around our trip to the Fantasy of Trees on Saturday. The Fantasy of Trees is a charity event for the Childrens' Hospital where local buisnesses and individuals sponsor designer Christmas trees to sell. Talk about a big to-do! There is a black tie opening, a silent auction, the trees to buy, all sorts of ornaments and decorations to pick up, and lots of things to do for the lil elves visiting with their parents. The event happens inside the brand new Knoxville Convention Center down on the World's Fair Park (yes, we're still stuck on the 1982 World's Fair that occurred here), which is just outside the University of Tennessee campus. GO VOLS!

As for the rest of the weekend, it went well. We drove into town on Thursday early afternoon with little traffic woe and a relatively clear sky. My mother made a wonderful turkey dinner and we quickly inhaled all that our tummys could handle. My sister, her new husband, and my nephew arrived Friday night and later on we met up with Paul and D at Barley's in the Old City. The Old City is in the heart of Knoxville and is an ongoing restoration project. The city doesn't want to abandon its industrial center so many of the warehouses are being renovated into lofts and buisnesses (mostly clubs and bars). It is a tedious undertaking as the buisnesses come and go since the area isn't the best, but its definitely not the worst. I have felt for years that more and more should be done with that area as it is filled with charm and historical beauty.
Did I mention Barley's has Rougue beer on tap? Say it with me: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Saturday was a bit of rest then off to the Fantasy of Trees, which took a couple of hours to see it all. Hopefully some of the pictures were all right - I did not take a tripod as I wasn't even sure at first if I could take in a camera. The lighting was very low and to get any type of decent effect I could not use a flash so that means having a steady hand as the camera tried to soak up ambient light to compensate.
HA.
The rest of the weekend was low key and relaxing. Stace and I split for the Queen city about noon on Sunday and other then an hour or so sitting with several hundred of our closest friend on the highway west of Asheville in accident traffic, it was uneventful.

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday and as usual, I thank my parents for everything.

Justin